Career Facts

What They Do:

A career in Digital Media, Audio, and Cinema can take many
directions, ranging in focus from cinematography and video editing
to audio recording and sound design. In most cases, professionals in
this field work in the area of production and post-production. That
is, they work behind the scenes to help shoot, light, and edit,
television shows, short films, commercials, music videos,
documentaries, and cinematic features and or record, mix and produce
audio CD's, musical scores, sound tracks, foley effects, dialogue,
etc.

Professionals in this field are very hands-on and work with a
variety of tools. A typical day "on the set" or in the "post house"
will find people pulling and patching cables, moving lights,
operating cameras, computers and mixing consoles, setting up mics,
climbing ladders, pushing dollies, laying track, holding boom poles,
and much, much more. In the end, they do what has to be done to get
the job done!

What Types of Skills Are Required:

A career in Digital Media, Audio, and Cinema demands a strong
commitment to team based collaboration, effective communication, and
maintaining a strong and positive mental attitude. Furthermore,
successful professionals are patient, accurate, detail oriented, and
work well with others; including co-workers, actors/talent, and
clients.

Where Employed:

Professionals in the Digital Media, Audio, and Cinema industry
are employed by independent television stations, local affiliate
stations of television networks or broadcast groups, large cable and
television networks, or smaller independent production companies.
About 17 percent of camera operators and film editors are
self-employed. Many self-employed camera operators/editors contract
with television networks, documentary or independent filmmakers,
advertising agencies, or trade show or convention sponsors to work
on individual projects for a set fee, often at a daily rate.

Most of the salaried camera operators and editors are employed by
television broadcasting stations and or motion picture studios. More
than half of the salaried film and video editors work for motion
picture studios. Most camera operators and editors work in large
metropolitan areas.

How Many Jobs Available:

Television, video, and motion picture camera operators and
editors held about 47,000 jobs in 2006. About 27,000 were camera
operators and film and video editors held about 21,000 jobs.

What degrees are offered at LCC?

The Digital Media, Audio, and Cinema program offers a variety of
degrees and certificates including (2) A.A.S. Degrees, (4)
Certificate of Achievements, and (4) Certificates of Completion.
Visit the DMAC
curriculum
page for more information.